City renews CRA for 20 years

Published: Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 09:48 PM.

PANAMA CITY — An agreement lasting 20 years was struck by city commissioners last week that will prevent the Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency from expiring in April of next year.

“That would have meant the portion of funds for downtown police would go away,” said William Whitson, CRA director. “That would mean no more grants, no funding for streetscape projects, loss of staff and all kind of things — not good things.”

The Downtown CRA was created in April of 1984. Commissioners then authorized Tax Increment Financing (TIF), which is a method to use hypothetical future gains in taxes to subsidize current improvements. TIF creates funding for public or private projects by borrowing against the future increase in these property-tax revenues.

“This statute was relatively new to active use,” Whitson said. “Florida has been a pioneer in this type of technique.”

Commissioners also took steps to ensure the CRA Board adopted a redevelopment plan at that time.

“Basically the downtown was in a state of disrepair,” Whitson said. “The streets were bad off and buildings were in terrible condition.”

The plan for the Downtown CRA has not been updated since creation. Many changes have evolved as the CRA has matured over the years.

PANAMA CITY — An agreement lasting 20 years was struck by city commissioners last week that will prevent the Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency from expiring in April of next year.

“That would have meant the portion of funds for downtown police would go away,” said William Whitson, CRA director. “That would mean no more grants, no funding for streetscape projects, loss of staff and all kind of things — not good things.”

The Downtown CRA was created in April of 1984. Commissioners then authorized Tax Increment Financing (TIF), which is a method to use hypothetical future gains in taxes to subsidize current improvements. TIF creates funding for public or private projects by borrowing against the future increase in these property-tax revenues.

“This statute was relatively new to active use,” Whitson said. “Florida has been a pioneer in this type of technique.”

Commissioners also took steps to ensure the CRA Board adopted a redevelopment plan at that time.

“Basically the downtown was in a state of disrepair,” Whitson said. “The streets were bad off and buildings were in terrible condition.”

The plan for the Downtown CRA has not been updated since creation. Many changes have evolved as the CRA has matured over the years.

History

“This is a historic event for the city,” Whitson said. “This was our first CRA and it made some significant progress but there is still a lot to do. The fact we get one more chance is important for the city.”

Since 1984, the objective of CRA Redevelopment Plan has been to leverage downtown’s existing assets to support the revitalization of the downtown area and remove the blighting influences identified in the original “Finding of Necessity” study. Numerous efforts were undertaken by the CRA to enhance the urban design quality of the redevelopment area, encourage retail and small business activity on the primary streets and broaden the range of community events that would activate the downtown and strengthen the downtown’s tourism appeal.

Prior to 2006, the Downtown Improvement Board served as the CRA for the city’s four CRA districts: downtown district (1984), St. Andrews District (1989), Downtown North District (1993), and the Millville District (2004). Today, the management of the four CRA Districts falls under the direction of the City Commission and city manager.

The CRA’s goal is to translate the community’s vision into an organized series of implementable action strategies that will help the CRA Board make informed decisions in achieving its goal to make Downtown Panama City a vibrant and economically sustainable urban core.

“We’ve tried to accelerate some the programs,” Whitson said. “Our grant programs are really beginning to take hold.”

Plans

Redevelopment of the marina into a multi-use civic and commercial destination is the highest priority of CRA officials at the moment.

“That’s been the crowning star of our efforts lately,” Whitson said. “It’s a great fit because there is going to be a ripple impact”

Whitson said the city has already seen a return in people purchasing properties and buildings in the downtown area.

“It’s really exciting to see that so early in development,” Whitson said.

The CRA received bids for construction of Memorial Plaza Wednesday.

“Bids at $2.3 million came in for construction,” Whitson said. “That was right on with what we were looking for.”

Since creation the CRA has combated blight but despite their efforts, areas of Panama City still suffer from the blighting conditions.

“It’s kind of a slow process,” Whitson said. “But there are some buildings that are going to be targeted for demolition.”

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